


Ride Home

by Metal_Chocobo



Category: Hockey RPF, Women's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Cars, F/F, Minnesota Wild, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-13
Updated: 2016-04-13
Packaged: 2018-06-01 23:06:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6540277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metal_Chocobo/pseuds/Metal_Chocobo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marcella Scandella was having a bad day until she was almost hit by a blue 1970 Ford Mustang.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ride Home

“Shit!” Marcella swore as the wind ripped her umbrella out of her hand.

To be more precise, it ripped half the umbrella out of her hand, leaving Marcella with a new useless curved metal handle. The useful half of the umbrella wafted upwards on the wind and promptly lodged itself in the branches of a tree. The knobby branches instantly pierced its soft cloth body, also rendering that half of the umbrella useless. In the span of time it took for Marcella’s umbrella to become completely useless, which was about ten seconds, the rain completely soaked her clothes.

She stomped her foot in wordless rage and ran her hands through her undercut. If she had only passed her driver’s test this weekend none of this would be happening. She had punched Dumbass this morning for sending her all those stupid texts that totally made her flip her shit with the driving instructor, which got her flunked for being an over emotional driver. She still couldn’t believe the old coot didn’t understand how serious it was that Dumbass lost the only copy of their new cheers book on the way to Kinko’s. None of the other girls had seen it yet, which meant Marcella was the only gal on the team who knew all the cheers. She’d have to write them all out. Again.

All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and let the rain wash her away. That was a tad overdramatic, but it had been a terrible rotten day and she deserved a little hysterics. The rain had cancelled cheerleading, which was the one thing she had been looking forward to after the unexpected geometry pop quiz fourth period. Marcella couldn’t even remember if her backpack was waterproof or not, and it was too wet to check, so her English book, and her notes for all her classes may or may not be totally wrecked. For the moment it was a Schrödinger backpack.

“Yeah, that’s right, Mr. Torchetti, I am not only awake in psych class, I pay attention,” Marcella said, imagining her teacher in front of her. He had ripped her a new one in class today when she mixed up Jungian and Freudian unconscious. It was simply a Freudian slip. She dismissed the image of her teacher with a flick of her wrist. “Booya.”

Suppressing the urge to scream Marcella started walking again. Standing here throwing a fit wouldn’t get her home any faster and the rain was not letting up. She wanted to get home before lightning or hail set in, you never knew with Canada’s weather, and she was already feeling cold from the rain. While the day could get worse, she certainly hoped it had already hit rock bottom.

* * *

Shannon hadn’t realized that when the forecast predicted precipitation they meant torrential downpours. Like usual, hockey had run long and being the goalie meant she was the last one out of the locker room like usual. Cary told her that if she cut her mane she’d be out faster like him, but fuck that. He was just a stupid freshman and didn’t get how important it was for her to keep her hair when she was playing with a bunch of guys. It was a badge of honor of her to be able to swish her hair and go yeah, this girl just shut you out after the other team gave hers shit for starting her. She earned her position because she was the best goalie around.

Unfortunately, behind the wheel during inclement weather was not the best time to be considering the casual sexism in her sport. Shannon hit the brakes and swerved to avoid hitting some idiot in the road. Luckily, she came to a stop without hitting anything.

“What the hell, man?” the girl in the road screeched and slammed her fists on the hood of the car. Shannon winced. If that was dented her dad was going to kill her. “I’m having a bad enough day without some doofus hitting me in a crosswalk!”

“I am so sorry,” Shannon said, unrolling her window. The rain came in, but it was still better than getting out of her vehicle. “That was totally my bad, are you alright?”

“Szabados?” she asked, moving around the front of the car toward the driver’s side. In the headlights’ glare Shannon realized she knew the other girl too. Sort of.

“It’s Scandi, right? You’re a cheerleader,” Shannon said. That and the fact she was a freshman was about all she knew about the other girl. “Get in. I’ll give you a ride home. Least I can do after almost hitting you.”

“You’re a lifesaver,” Scandi laughed, clambering across Shannon’s lap into the passenger seat. Apparently she couldn’t wait to get out of the rain long enough to walk about around the outside of the car.

Scandi shuffling around while Shannon resumed driving. She didn’t exactly know where Scandi lived, but had a sense it was out in the French district on the eastern edge of town. It would be a bit of a drive, but Shannon kinda owed her now. Besides, all she’d be missing at home was her little brother, Matt, watching cartoons at three times their normal volume while dousing the couch with Cheetos dust.

“Oh fuck yes,” Scandi laughed. Shannon heard zipping noises and she glanced over to see Scandi digging through her backpack.

“Something good happen?” Shannon asked.

“Yeah, my bag is still dry inside, which I didn’t think would be the case. I mean, everything else is completely soaked,” Scandi explained. Shannon reached into the backseat and grabbed her Oilers blanket. She tossed it to the other girl so that she could dry off. Scandi started patting herself with the blanket and then froze as she stared at Shannon’s seat. “Wait, is this genuine leather?”

“Yep. Spent the last two summers restoring this 1970 Ford Mustang. Dad bought it for a song ages ago because it was so banged up, but never had the time to work on it. He said that if I could fix it I could have it, so it’s mine now.”

“Well that makes my decision easy,” Scandi grumbled.

“What decision?” Shannon asked. She glanced over again and hit the brakes again. The last thing she had expected to see was Scandi topless and in the process of unhooking her bra. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Changing, duh. I’ve got a dry uniform and this is genuine leather. It’d be a crime against this primo machine if I didn’t switch as fast as possible. Now, are you gonna keep driving or do you need to pull over to watch me change?”

“I’m driving,” Shannon insisted, turning her eyes back to the road. She was not glancing to her right again. “Where do you live again, Scandi?”

“You should use my first name. It’s Marcella, or Marcy if you want to be cute,” Marcella said, sighing as she settled against her seat. “I’ll direct you as we go, it can get a little messy otherwise. Hey, where should I stick my wet clothes?”

“Just toss them on the floor in back,” Shannon said. She grinned at Marcella’s scandalized face. “I’ve got my winter floor mats already in place and Matt’s littered the floor back there with so many fast food wrappers I doubt any water would actually reach the car.”

“That’s a terrible way to treat such a nice car!”

“I’ve tried to stop him dozens of times, but the little shit keeps doing it anyway. At least I like the way French fries smell,” Shannon shrugged. Marcella gently dropped her clothes on the largest wrapper mound. “For once they’ll actually come in handy.”

“That’s looking on the bright side,” Marcella agreed. “So, what are you doing around campus so late? After cheerleading was cancelled I hit up the local bubble tea shop with Darcy and Dumbass—I mean, Matilda Dumba. They were out of my three favorite flavors, which sucked, but we were still able to hang out until Darcy’s mom came to pick them up.”

“I was at hockey practice,” Shannon grinned. “We ran late, but it’s always totally worth it. I mean, I’m starting this year.”

“Oh, that’s really cool, Shannon, but I thought the girls’ hockey team practiced before school.”

“They do. I’m on the boys’ team now, since Jake Allen graduated, James Reimer moved across the country, and Carey Price isn’t ready for high school play yet. Geneviéve Lacasse is the girls’ new starter.”

“Oh wow that’s awesome!” Marcella laughed gleefully. “Allen was a hideous starting goalie and Reimer would have been just as bad. You’re way more attractive!”

“While that’s technically true, we don’t choose our starting goaltenders based on looks.”

“I know that.” Marcella rolled her eyes. “It’s just a bonus when the goalie’s easy on the eyes. I’m way more pumped with my cheers when I can stand looking at the team I’m encouraging.”

“Good to know,” Shannon laughed. “We can use all the help we can get. We lost a lot of great players when last year’s seniors left.”

“Hockey and cars, my kind of gal,” Marcella grinned. “Wish we starting hanging out last year.”

They spent the rest of the drive home talking cars and a little hockey. Marcella was an avid car fan, especially of fast sexy ones, which were also Shannon’s favorite. However, Shannon preferred vintage muscle cars, while Marcella liked the newer slick models. By the time they arrived at the Scandella residence the girls promised to hang out sometime, perhaps after practice.

“If you’re lucky, maybe I’ll show you what’s under my hood,” Shannon grinned as she parked in Marcella’s driveway.

“Oh? What do I have to do to see that?” Marcella grinned, waggling her eyebrows lewdly.

“Ah, nothing really. It depends on whether or not the garage is full, so I guess you’ve just got to be lucky. Literally,” Shannon shrugged.

“I like those odds,” Marcella grinned. She leaned over and kissed Shannon’s cheek. “Thanks for not hitting me and for the ride home. See you at school tomorrow!”

“Bye,” Shannon nodded. 

She watched until Marcella was safely inside her house then drove away. It wasn’t until Shannon got home and started emptying out the backseat—Marcella’s admonishments about the state of her vehicle had hit home and Shannon regretted letting Matt leave his mess—that she realized the cheerleader never collected her clothes. She was suddenly glad Matt refused to help when she demanded it and Dad wasn’t home to force him. The only thing that could have made that near disaster even worse was if it had been the cheerleading uniform back there instead of Marcella’s street clothes.

Shannon washed the clothes and stuck them in a plastic bag. The next day she brought them with her to school. It wasn’t until the second to last passing period of the day that Shannon finally caught Marcella. She grabbed her by the sleeve and pulled her to a halt. The two girls Marcella had been chatting with stopped as well, looking at Shannon curiously. When she first turned Marcella’s face was pinched into a harsh glower, but it melted away into a pleasant recognition when she realized it was Shannon demanding her attention.

“Hey, what’s up?” Marcella greeted her. “I had a lot of fun yesterday.”

“Good. Umm, you forgot this in my car. I cleaned them for you,” Shannon said, feeling a little awkward. She handed the bag over to Marcella as her friends watched. Marcella peeked into the bag, dug around inside of it for a moment, and then grinned.

“Oh man, I can’t believe I forgot my lucky panties in your car. Thank you! I would have been screwed if I didn’t have these for Friday’s exam.” Before Shannon could say anything else Marcella walked away. One of her friends followed her, but the taller one, Shannon thought her name was Darcy, lingered.

“I’m really impressed how open you two are about everything,” Darcy said admiringly.

“It’s no big deal,” Shannon shrugged. All she had done was give her a ride home and wash her clothes. “Marcella’s pretty cool.”

“Darcy, are you coming or what?” Marcella called. “Yeo can’t give us pop quizzes two days in a row.”

“Coming,” Darcy called back. She smiled and nodded at Shannon. “I’m glad you two found each other.”

Shannon smiled and shrugged. She didn’t have a clue what Darcy was talking about. Her next class went normally, but that couldn’t be said of her last class of the day. It wasn’t the teacher or history lesson that felt off, but rather the other students. She couldn’t help noticing that kids she didn’t typically talk to kept whispering and staring at her. Shannon did her best to ignore it, instead focusing on the lecture. However, the weird behavior left her unsettled as she headed to practice.

“Yo Szabados,” P.K. greeted her. He slid into the stall next to her with a warm smile on his face. Shannon grinned back as she laced up her pads. P.K. was her favorite teammate since she switched teams.

“Hey what’s up?” Shannon asked.

“So, you know I’ve got journalism last period, right?” he asked. “We do up the newspaper and all that jazz.”

“Yeah, you love being connected to the gossip mill,” Shannon said. “This isn’t another demand for an interview, is it? I’m not talking about what it’s like to be the only girl on a boy’s team. I hate doing that shit.”

“Of course not! Do you really have that little faith in me?” P.K. demanded, clearly hurt. “I’ve got your back, Szab. Not only would I not ask such a stupid question in our interview, which you will eventually give me, but I just spent the last hour squashing attempts by the rest of the class to print unverified rumors about you. They want to turn the school newspaper into a literal gossip rag.”

“What rumor?”

“That you’re banging half the cheerleading squad,” P.K. said. Shannon froze.

“Excuse me?”

“I mean, some of the rumors just say the starting goalie’s banging half the squad, but that’s still you. My favorite had to be that you banged Marcella Scandella in the back of your mustang.” P.K. looked at his nails. “There are firsthand accounts from a couple of witnesses that you were returning her undies earlier today.”

“Oh my god, no!” Shannon hissed back, extremely embarrassed she was now the center of a scandalous rumor. “All I did was give her a ride home yesterday. She was soaked from the rain and had a spare set of clothes, so she changed and forgot the soggy shit.”

“I figured it was something like that.”

“What the fuck am I supposed to do?” Shannon groaned. She looked imploringly at P.K., hoping her buddy could help her out of this unexpected jam.

“Can’t directly reference the rumors without adding fuel to the gossip mill,” P.K. shrugged. “Gotta ride it out and hope someone else catches their attention. In the mean time, I’ll swing back to the newspaper room after practice and double check that they didn’t slip anything into the paper. If you let me interview you, we can throw in a simple question about if you’re dating anyone, you can say no, and that’ll be the definitive answer for the masses.”

“Okay, that’s what we’ll do,” Shannon agreed. P.K. nodded and stood up. They fist bumped. “Can’t believe you went this far just to get an interview.”

“Reporters gotta report,” P.K. joked as he headed back to his stall. “In all seriousness though, I promise I’ll do what I can to ensure this stays out of ink. Just focus on your play and that’s all that matters.”

Shannon did as P.K. suggested and had a great practice. Not a single direct shot got past her and Crosby didn’t score once, which was usually an eventuality. She felt pretty good as she skated off the ice at the end of practice. P.K. lightly punched her shoulder to get her attention then pointed out Marcella unexpectedly sitting in the stands. She waved when she noticed Shannon looking.

“Go talk to your girl,” P.K. said. “Coach won’t say anything he hasn’t already said. I’ll cover for you.”

“She’s not my girl,” Shannon grumbled, but she stepped back onto the ice.

“Then maybe you should consider changing that,” P.K. said. She glared at him and he held up his hands defensively. “Hey, I’m just saying that since you like chicks, Scandi’s a decent choice. She’s even crazier about cars than you are.”

“Hey,” Marcella said when Shannon reached her side of the rink. She stood up and pressed a hand against the glass.

“I hear there’s a rumor going around school about us,” Shannon said. “Well, you, me, and the rest of the cheerleaders.”

“I’m sorry,” Marcella winced. “Darcy jumped to conclusions earlier and all of my denials just convinced her there was something going on. The rest of the team overheard the argument and… well, things spiraled from there. I should have just told her what happened last night instead of getting defensive. ”

“It’s okay, I probably would have reacted the same way,” Shannon sighed. She pulled her helmet off and ran a hand through her hair. “Maybe I should have been more discreet returning your things.”

“Well, the damage is done,” Marcella said. “Do you still want to hang out or are you planning on avoiding me like the plague until you graduate next year?”

“What? Of course we’re hanging out. I’m not letting a bunch of gossips determine who my friends are. I definitely want to want to get to know you better,” Shannon said. “Look, I gotta change, but do you want to go do something? Either tonight or some other time?”

“Like a date?” Marcella asked. Shannon hesitated. She hadn’t exactly meant it that way, but she wasn’t opposed to it. P.K. was usually right about this sort of thing; they could be a good match.

“If you want it to be.”

“Go change,” Marcella grinned, shooing her toward the locker room.

Ignoring the butterflies in her stomach Shannon changed as fast as she could. As she made her exit she waved to P.K. and lightly shoved Carey goodbye. Marcella was waiting for her outside the rink. She looked just as nervous as Shannon felt, which actually calmed her nerves. At the moment Shannon wasn’t certain if she had any interest in Marcella beyond friendship, but she was interested in finding out.

“Hey,” Shannon greeted her with a smile. “Any idea what you’d like to do?”

“Maybe a movie? I know a drive thru nearby.” Marcella waggled her eyebrows.

“If it’s the same one I’m thinking of, they’re still showing the new Fast and the Furious film. I assume you want to go in my car,” Shannon said. She shifted her hockey bag onto one arm and offered Marcella the other, which she accepted.

“You already know me so well,” Marcella laughed. “Let’s go. Afterward you can give me a ride home.”

“Sounds perfect,” Shannon agreed. Marcella leaned over and kissed her. 

The pair walked over to Shannon’s blue 1970 Ford Mustang and got in. Shannon started the car as Marcella rolled down the windows. Then they took to the road. With the wind blowing through their hair and forcing it to completely block out the rear window Shannon laughed. It felt like they were on the start of a brand new adventure. She didn’t know how this would turn out, but she was looking forward to it. From all accounts Marcella Scandella was a wild ride.


End file.
